Animal control officer broke dog's jaw and denied veterinary care
Las Cruces, NM (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Sep 4, 2002
County: Dona Ana

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Abraham Flores

In early September, 2002, a healthy, but arthritic, 10 year-old Shepard mix named Leo and a greyhound were taken into protective custody by Las Cruces Animal Control Officer Abraham Flores while the police were investigating a crime scene at the home of Joyce Guthrie-Stone.

Ms. Guthrie-Stone's father helped load the dogs into the animal control truck and told the officer to contact him if he needed help unloading the dogs.

The next day, Ms. Guthrie-Stone picked up her dogs at the Dona Ana County Humane Society to find Leo soaking wet and covered in blood with his lower jaw hanging down. A thorough veterinary examination revealed that Leo was in shock, his lower jaw had been broken completely in half causing him to lose a great deal of blood and his mouth and foreleg also sustained extensive trauma.

Ms. Guthrie-Stone opted to humanely euthanize her dog rather than subject him to multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery period that may have yielded limited results.

While at the Dona Ana County Humane Society, Leo received no veterinary aid until his owner arrived and demanded medical relief. The on-duty supervisor, Vivian Goodman (wife of Las Cruces Animal Control Officer Brian Goodman - who was the on-call shelter supervisor the night Leo was critically injured) made the ultimate decision to withhold veterinary relief from Leo Guthrie after arriving at the shelter the morning after Leo was injured. Brian Goodman chose not to seek veterinary attention for Leo Guthrie when he was notified of his injuries the previous night.

Investigations conducted by the City of Las Cruces into the conduct of the City of Las Cruces Animal Control Department and it's contracted animal shelter, the Dona Ana County Humane Society, found the officer guilty of breaking Leo's jaw and confirmed Leo was denied veterinary care, but have yet to file any criminal charges in this case. Both agencies have admitted to insufficient and flawed policy and claim revisions after initial inquiries regarding this case.

References

• Animal Protection of New Mexico

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